Mobile communication device

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication device that includes: a storage unit configured to store therein image data; an address book storage unit configured to store therein communication party information associated with the image data; and an output control unit configured to display, when a sent mail that is transmitted by the mobile communication device is selected by selection of transmission destination information that corresponds to the sent mail, image data together with the transmission destination information, wherein the transmission destination information comprises communication party information pertaining to the sent mail, the image data being associated with the transmission destination information such that the image data is displayed together with the transmission destination information upon selection of the transmission destination information, and wherein the image data was previously stored in the storage unit and not attached to the sent mail when it was sent.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/038,227, filed on Sep. 26, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/580,318 filed on Mar. 23, 2007, which is aNational Phase application of International Application No.PCT/JP04/17607, filed on Nov. 26, 2004, which claims priority toJapanese Application No. 2003-397659, filed on Nov. 27, 2003, theentireties of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile communication device, inparticular to technology for displaying emails on a cell phone.

2. Description of the Related Art

The recent cell phones are equipped with functions of, if a telephonenumber, ring alert and an image have been registered to the address bookunder the name of a caller, sounding the registered ring alert anddisplaying the image—e.g. a picture of the caller's face—when a callfrom the caller is incoming. Herewith, the users are able to identifycallers before answering the phone.

Being called regardless of time and place is unpleasant; with emails(hereinafter, referred to simply as “mails”), the recipients can readthem at their convenience. In addition, mails are generally more costefficient for the senders, as compared to telephone calls. As a result,these days cell phones are increasingly used to make mail communicationrather than to have telephone communication.

In response to this trend, a technology has been disclosed in which animage having been registered in accordance with the mail address of asender is displayed when a mail from the sender is incoming, as in thecase of when a call is incoming (Patent Reference 1).

<Patent Reference 1>Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application PublicationNo. 2002-176679

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the above-mentioned technology, the user is able to identifysenders at the receipt of mails; however, the memory fades away withtime, and it is sometimes the case that the user has trouble not beingable to recall or identify the sender when selecting a received mailfrom the received mail list or when opening a mail and reading the mailmessage.

In view of the above issue, the present invention aims at offering acell phone enabling the user to recall and identify the sender at thetime of selecting or opening a mail.

In order to solve the above problem, the mobile communication device ofthe present invention comprises: a storage unit operable to storetherein image data; an address book storage unit operable to storetherein communication party information, which indicates a party formail communication, the communication party information being associatedwith the image data; and an output control unit operable to display,when the communication party information is specified, the associatedimage data together with the specified communication party information.

According to the above structure, if communication party information ofthe mail has been stored, in association with image data, in the addressbook storage unit, the associated image data is displayed together withthe communication party information when the communication partyinformation of the mail is specified. As a result, the user is able torecall or identify the sender of the mail.

In order to solve the above problem, the mobile communication device ofthe present invention comprises: a storage unit operable to storetherein image data; an address book storage unit operable to storetherein communication party information, which indicates a communicationparty of a mail, the communication party information being associatedwith the image data; and an output control unit operable to display,when the mail is specified, the associated image data together with amessage of the specified mail.

According to the above structure, if communication party information ofthe mail has been stored, in association with image data, in the addressbook storage unit, the associated image data is displayed together withthe communication party information when a message of the specified mailis displayed. As a result, the user is able to recall or identify thesender of the mail.

In addition, the output control unit includes: an image synthesizingsubunit operable to form a synthesized image by synthesizing theassociated image data and the message; and a synthesized image displaysubunit operable to display the synthesized image.

Herewith, the image data and message of the mail are displayed in asynthesized fashion, and the user is able to see the image data togetherwith the message.

In addition, the image synthesizing subunit forms an image byperforming, on the associated image data, brightness enhancement inwhich brightness of each pixel of the associated image data is broughtclose to maximum brightness, and forms the synthesized image by usingthe formed image as a background image, on top of which the message inblack text is laid.

Herewith, the sender's image having less variation in brightness isdisplayed as a bright background image while the message being displayedin black text. Thus, these two have enhanced contrast when synthesized,and therefore easily viewable message can be displayed.

In addition, in the brightness enhancement, a brightness scale of eachpixel of the associated image data is changed to a value calculated from(m+n)/2, where m is a maximum brightness scale and n is the brightnessscale of the pixel.

Herewith, even the darkest pixels in the sender's image are brightlydisplayed with half the maximum brightness. According to the brightnessof each pixel of the original image, the sender's image is displayed asa background image brighter than the original image, and thereforeeasily viewable image and message can be displayed.

In addition, the image synthesizing subunit forms an image byperforming, on the associated image data, brightness reduction in whichbrightness of each pixel of the associated image data is brought closeto minimum brightness, and forms the synthesized image by using theformed image as a background image, on top of which the message in whitetext is laid.

Herewith, the sender's image having less variation in brightness isdisplayed as a dark background image while the message being displayedin white text. Thus, these two have enhanced contrast when synthesized,and easily viewable image and image can be displayed for the user.

In addition, the storage unit includes a music data storage subunitoperable to store therein music data. Here, the communication partyinformation stored in the address book storage unit is associated withthe music data. The output control unit includes a music output subunitoperable to output, when the message of the specified mail is displayed,the associated music data.

Herewith, if the communication party information of the mail has beenstored, in association with music data, in the address book storageunit, the music of the music data is also output when the message of themail with the mail address is displayed. As a result, the user is ableto recall or identify the sender by the music associated with thesender.

In addition, the output control unit includes: an image synthesizingsubunit operable to form a synthesized image for a mail list display bysynthesizing a mail list and the associated image data when the mail isselected in the mail list; and a synthesized image display subunitoperable to display the synthesized image.

Herewith, when the mail list is displayed, the user is always able tosee the image of the sender of the selected mail, appearing as thebackground of the mail list.

In addition, the communication party information includes a mail addressof the communication party. Here, the output control unit displays theimage data associated with the communication party information includingthe mail address together with the message of the specified mail.

Herewith, the user is able to identify the communication partyinformation in the address book storage unit, using the mail address,and also identify the image data associated with the communication partyinformation.

In order to solve the above problem, the control method of the mobilecommunication device of the present invention is a control method of amobile communication device including a storage unit operable to storetherein image data and an address book storage unit operable to storetherein communication party information, which indicates a party formail communication. Here, the communication party information isassociated with the image data. The control method comprises the stepsof: when the communication party information is specified, reading fromthe storage unit the associated image data; and displaying the readimage data together with the specified communication party information.

According to the above control method, if communication partyinformation of the mail has been stored, in association with image data,in the address book storage unit, the associated image data is displayedtogether with the communication party information when the communicationparty information of the mail is specified. As a result, the user isable to recall or identify the sender of the mail.

In order to solve the above problem, the control method of the mobilecommunication device of the present invention is a mobile communicationdevice including a storage unit operable to store therein image data andan address book storage unit operable to store therein communicationparty information, which indicates a communication party of a mail.Here, the communication party information is associated with the imagedata. The control method comprises the steps of: when the mail isspecified, reading from the storage unit the associated image data; anddisplaying the read image data together with a message of the specifiedmail.

According to the above control method, if communication partyinformation of the mail has been stored, in association with image data,in the address book storage unit, the associated image data is displayedtogether with the communication party information when a message of thespecified mail is displayed. As a result, the user is able to recall oridentify the sender of the mail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a cell phoneaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows front and back faces of the cell phone according to thepreferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows an address book and the like of an information storage unitaccording to the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows mail-related data of the information storage unit accordingto the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows the address book and an example of a mail menu of thepreferred embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows an example of registration screens for making registrationto the address book according to the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows an example of a result of the registration to the addressbook according to the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a display example of a received mail list according to thepreferred embodiment;

FIG. 9 shows an example of a process for synthesizing a mail message anda background image according to the preferred embodiment;

FIGS. 10A-B show examples of converting brightness of the backgroundimage according to the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process for displaying the mail messageaccording to the preferred embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is an example of a display of the background image in a receivedmail list according to a modified embodiment.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES

101 antenna

102 communication unit

104 audio processing unit

106 microphone (telephone transmitter)

107 speaker (telephone receiver)

100 information storage unit

110 operation unit

111 address book menu button

112 mail menu button

115 OK button

116 UP button

117 DOWN button

120 display unit

130 address book process unit

140 received mail display control unit

301 address book

302 image/music information

303 image/music data ID information

304 image/music data file

401 mailbox

402 inbox

403 outbox

404 mail management table

501 address book menu

511 mail menu

601 new registration

602 image data ID information list

603 music data ID information list

701 address book registration example

801 received mail list

811 received mail display example

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Next is described a preferred embodiment of a mobile communicationdevice, a cell phone, according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the cell phone, a mobile communicationdevice of the present embodiment. This cell phone comprises: an antenna101; a communication unit 102; an audio processing unit 104; amicrophone 106; a speaker 107; an information storage unit 100; anoperation unit 110; a display unit 120; an address book process unit130; and a received mail display control unit 140.

FIG. 2 shows a front side of the folding camera cell phone of thepresent embodiment open. Some of the components with reference numeralsin FIG. 2 correspond to components having the same reference numerals inFIG. 1.

The antenna 101 receives from a communication base station (not shown)electric waves of modulated signals, such as voice of the calling partyand incoming mails, and transmits the modulated signals to thecommunication unit 102. The antenna 101 also conducts operations in thereverse direction, transmitting to the communication base stationelectric waves of modulated signals, such as voice of the called partyand outgoing mails received from the communication unit 102.

The communication unit 102 demodulates the modulated signals receivedfrom the antenna 101 to signals of the voice of the calling party,incoming mails or the like. While the voice is output to the audioprocessing unit 104, the mails are recorded in an inbox 402 of theinformation storage unit 100. Also the communication unit 102,reversely, transmits to the antenna 101 modulated signals of the voiceof the called party, outgoing mails or the like.

The audio processing unit 104 outputs to the speaker 107 audio signalsreceived from the communication unit 102 or the received mail displaycontrol unit 140. The audio processing unit 104 also transmits to thecommunication unit 102 voice of the called party received from themicrophone 106.

The information storage unit 100 is realized using RAM (Random AccessMemory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), and stores therein a variety ofinformation—for example, an address book 301, image/music information302, a mailbox 401 including an inbox 402 and an outbox 403, and a menu.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the address book 301 and image/musicinformation 302.

Contained in the address book 301 is information of communicationparties for telephone or mail communications, and items for each entryinclude name, telephone number, mail address, image data identifier, andmusic data identifier. Registration to the address book 301 is performedby the user through button operations on the operation unit 110, and theaddress book 301 is referred to by the address book process unit 130 andreceived mail display control unit 140.

The image/music information 302 is information related to image andmusic data, and includes image/music data ID information 303 andimage/music data files 304. The image/music data ID information 303 iscomposed of ID information of image data and music data, which arereferred to by the received mail display control unit 140 and output tothe display unit 120 or the like.

The image/music data files 304 are made up of image data file group anda music data file group, and each file has a file name.

Here, ID information of image data is image data identifier—specificallyspeaking, a file name of image data file. In a similar fashion, IDinformation of music data is a music data identifier—specificallyspeaking, a file name of a music data file.

Each of the image data and music data of the image/music information 302is either user data created by the user or preset data incorporated inthe cell phone from the beginning The user data is stored in the RAMwhile the preset data being stored in the ROM. Note here that dataformatted in content description languages for portable devices—forexample, HDML (Handheld Device Markup Language)—an be applicable as theimage data and music data.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a data structure of the mailbox 401. Themailbox 401 includes the inbox 402, the outbox 403 and a mail managementtable 404.

Stored in the inbox 402 are received mails 412, which are managed inorder of the latest date and time of receipt. The outbox 403 also storestherein sent mails 413, which are managed in order of the latest dateand time of transmission.

Each of the received mails 412 includes information items of sendername, mail address, date and time of receipt, subject and message, whichare referred to by the received mail display control unit 140 and outputto the display unit 120 or the like. On the other hand, each of the sentmails 413 includes items of destination name, mail address, date andtime of transmission, subject and message.

The mail management table 404 stores therein settings of controlconditions for the time when mails are displayed ortransmitted/received. The settings can be changed via the operation unit110. The control conditions managed in the mail management table 404include ON/OFF settings for a background image and background music inrelation to the reception/display settings.

In the case of the background image setting being ON, if the mailaddress of a received mail 412 has been registered to the address book301 and also an image for the mail address has been registered thereto,the image is displayed as a background image when the message of thereceived mail 412 is displayed. If the background image setting is OFF,the background image is not displayed.

Much the same is true of the background music setting. When thebackground music setting is ON, if the mail address of a received mail412 has been registered to the address book 301 and also music for themail address has been registered thereto, the music is output asbackground music (BGM) when the message of the received mail 412 isdisplayed.

FIG. 5 shows an address book menu 501 and a mail menu 511 stored in theinformation storage unit 100. The information storage unit 100 storesthese menus in the ROM.

The operation unit 110 receives various operations from the user. Useroperations include transmission and receipt of calls, registration tothe address book 301 and mail reading.

FIG. 2 shows a layout of various buttons of the operation unit 110.Buttons of the operation unit 110 are, for example, an address book menubutton 111, a mail menu button 112, an OK button 115, an UP button 116,a DOWN button 117, and number buttons from 0 to 9.

The display unit 120 is made up of a main display and a sub-display,which are realized for instance with a liquid crystal panel. The maindisplay is used for normal operations of the cell phone, such asfunction settings and mail display. On the other hand, the sub-displayis used for display of simple information—for example, display ofmessages for incoming calls and mails. An expression “display on thedisplay unit 120” hereinafter indicates display on the main display.

The address book process unit 130 deals with registration and referenceto the address book that stores therein information pertaining tocommunication parties.

Registration of a new communication party to the address book is startedby the user pushing down the address book menu button 111. When theaddress book menu button 111 is pushed, the address book process unit130 displays the address book menu 501 on the display unit 120. The term“display” hereinafter indicates “display on the display unit 120”.

Menu items appearing on the address book menu 501 are “reference” and“new registration”. Initially, the item of “reference” is highlighted(not shown) as an option. If the user pushes the DOWN button 117,“reference” changes to the normal display and the second item “newregistration” is highlighted.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example for making a new registration to theaddress book.

If the user pushes the OK button 115 to confirm the selection of “newregistration”, the address book process unit 130 displays a newregistration screen 601. Entry items on the new registration screen 601include communication party name, telephone number, mail address, imageand music. The name entry field is initially highlighted as an inputoption. Here, an input screen for “name” (not shown) is displayed whenthe user pushes the OK button 115. After inputting a name usingappropriate buttons of the operation unit 110, the user returns to thenew registration screen 601 by pushing the OK button 115 once again. Atthis point, the input name is displayed in the name entry field. Theuser inputs a telephone number and a mail address in a similar fashion,moving from one entry item to the other using the DOWN button 117.

Next, when the user pushes the OK button 115 in the entry field of“image”, the address book process unit 130 reads image data IDinformation from the image/music data ID information 303 in theinformation storage unit 100 and displays it. Image data ID informationlist 602 is one example of such image data ID information. In thisexample, the ID information is image data identifiers. The image data IDinformation list 602 displays image data identifiers of the user datafirst, and then image data identifiers of the preset data.

The user highlights an appropriate image data identifier by operatingthe UP and DOWN buttons 116 and 117, and confirms the selection of theimage data identifier by pushing the OK button 115. A name—“Close-upShot of Mr. Yamada”, for example—is given to image data at the creationand storage of the image data, and this name coupled with its dataidentifier may be stored in the image/music data ID information 303.Here, names of image data, instead of image data identifiers, may bedisplayed in the image data ID information list 602. In such a case, itis recommended to add an item of a data name to the image/music data IDinformation 303 and store the data name being coupled with acorresponding data file name.

Regarding registration of music, the user selects an appropriate musicdata identifier from the music data ID information list 603, as in thecase of the image registration.

FIG. 7 shows an example for registering sender information to theaddress book 301. Here, the sender information means information of amail sender.

The received mail display control unit 140 displays received mails. Ifthe sender's mail address of a received mail and the sender's image andmusic data ID information have been registered, the received maildisplay control unit 140 also outputs an image of the image data fileassociated with the image data ID information at the display of thereceived mail, together with music of the music data file associatedwith the music data ID information.

Here, the image output is accomplished by displaying the image as abackground image of the message. On the other hand, the music is outputvia the audio processing unit 104 during the display of the message.

The received mail display control unit 140 displays a mail menu inresponse to a user's push of the mail menu button 112. The mail menu 511is one example of this.

When the user confirms the selection of “inbox” in the mail menu 511with the OK button 115, the received mail display control unit 140creates a received mail list 801 based on received mails in the inbox,and displays the listed mails in order of the latest date and time ofreceipt. Items displayed in the received mail list 801 include receiptdate and sender name. Here, the sender name is a name associated with amail address of the sender registered to the address book. If the nameor the mail address of the sender is not found in the address book, thereceived mail display control unit 140 displays the mail address of thesender, instead of the name.

On the initial display of the received mail list 801, the received maildisplay control unit 140 highlights the top mail, assuming that it isselected. The received mail list 801 shown in FIG. 8 represents itsinitial display with the top mail selected.

In response to user's pushes of the UP and DOWN buttons 116 and 117, thereceived mail display control unit 140 moves across the selectablereceived mails, and highlights a selected mail in the received maillist.

When the OK button 115 is pushed, the received mail display control unit140 opens the currently selected mail in the received mail list 801—forexample, a mail from Mr. Taro Yamada 802, and sequentially displays themail's sender name, date and time of receipt, subject and message.

FIG. 9 shows a process performed by the received mail display controlunit 140 for synthesizing a mail message and an image in the case whenthe image is also displayed at the time of display of the message.

The received mail display control unit 140 reads image data file of theimage data ID information of the mail sender, who has been registered tothe address book. The received mail display control unit 140 thenperforms image transform, in a temporary area of the RAM (Random AccessMemory), on the image data file, using the image data file as anoriginal image. According to the image transform, a brightness or acontrast value is assigned to each pixel of the image. Here, assume thateach pixel is composed of three primary colors, R, G and B, each ofwhich is represented in ten brightness scales from 0 to 10.

Next, the received mail display control unit 140 creates a backgroundimage by raising or lowering the color brightness of each pixel of thetransformed image.

FIGS. 10A-B show how to raise and lower the brightness scales of eachcolor of an original image.

How to raise the brightness is first described. As shown in FIG. 10A,when a brightness of a color of the original image is n, the brightnessn is converted into a brightness in six scales from 5 to 10. Forexample, the brightness scale of 0 or 1 in the original image isconverted into 5, while the brightness scale of 2 or 3 being convertedinto 6.

When the maximum brightness is m (m=10) and a brightness of one color inthe original image is n, a brightness after conversion, c, is expressedby the following equation:c=(m+n)/2  (Eq. 1)Here, the decimal numbers will be rounded off

The received mail display control unit 140 synthesizes the mail messageand the processed image with raised brightness. More specificallyspeaking, the received mail display control unit 140 uses the image as abackground image, on top of which then the mail message in black text(the brightness of each color, R, G and B of pixels for the messageletters is set to 0) is laid. Then, the received mail display controlunit 140 displays the synthesized image.

In the case of lowering the brightness, if a brightness of a color ofthe original image is n, the brightness n is converted into a brightnessin six scales from 0 to 5, as shown in FIG. 10B. For example, thebrightness scale of 1 or 2 in the original image is converted into 1,while the brightness scale of 3 or 4 being converted into 2.

A brightness after conversion, c, is expressed by the followingequation:c=n/2   (Eq. 2)Here, the decimal numbers will be rounded off.

The received mail display control unit 140 synthesizes the processedimage and the mail message by superimposing the message in white text(the brightness of each color, R, G and B of pixels for the messageletters is set to 0) onto the image, and displays the synthesized image.Thus, either one of the above-mentioned synthesizing processes can beperformed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process for displaying a mail message.

Next is described a process performed by the received mail displaycontrol unit 140 for displaying a mail message, with the aid of FIG. 11.

The received mail display control unit 140 displays sender name, receiptdate and time, and subject of a received mail specified by the user, andthen displays the mail message. Next, the received mail display controlunit 140 refers to the mail management table 404 in the mailbox 401, andchecks whether the flag of the background image for thereception/display settings is ON (Step S10). If the flag of thebackground image is not ON, the received mail display control unit 140displays the message in the normal manner without displaying thebackground image (Step S60).

In the case of the flag of the background image being ON, the receivedmail display control unit 140 checks whether the mail address of themail's sender has been registered to the address book 301 (Step S20). Ifit has not been registered, the received mail display control unit 140displays the message in the normal manner (Step S60). When the sender'smail address has been registered, the received mail display control unit140 further checks whether image data ID information of the sender'simage associated with the mail address has been registered to theaddress book (Step S30). If it has not been registered, the receivedmail display control unit 140 displays the message in the normal manner(Step S60).

If the image data ID information has been registered, the received maildisplay control unit 140 reads image data file identified by the imagedata ID information from the image/music data files 304 of theinformation storage unit 100, performs image transform in a temporaryarea of the RAM, and converts the image into an image used as abackground image by raising the brightness scales of individual R, G andB colors of each pixel with the use of (Eq. 1) (Step S40). The receivedmail display control unit 140 sets the color of the letters in themessage text to black, superimposes the message in black text onto thebackground image, and displays this superimposed image (Step S50).

Next, the received mail display control unit 140 checks whether musicdata ID information associated with the mail address has been registeredto the address book (Step S70). If it has been registered, the receivedmail display control unit 140 reads a music data file identified by themusic data ID information from the image/music data files 304, andoutputs the music via the audio processing unit 104 (Step S80).

Thus concludes the description of the display process of a mail messageperformed by the received mail display control unit 140.

In the above display process of the mail message, the image for thebackground is produced in Step S40 by raising the brightness scales ofthe original image, and the letters of the message text are displayed inblack. Instead, the image for the background may be produced by loweringthe brightness scales according to (Eq. 2) and the letters may bedisplayed in white.

In the preferred embodiment, the target of the above-described displayprocess is received mails only. However, in order to output an image ofthe destination party and music, a similar procedure may be applied whenthe message of a sent mail 413 stored in the outbox is displayed, andfurther when the message of an outgoing mail in process of creation isdisplayed.

Although the brightness scales of the image range from 0 to 10 in thepreferred embodiment, it is a matter of course that the presentinvention is not limited to these scales, and the brightness scales arechangeable according to the image data and the performance of thedisplay device. In addition, the brightness is described here asbrightness of each of the three primary colors; as a matter of course,the present invention is not limited to these three primary colors.Displaying brightness of the pixels in gray scales is also within thescope of the present invention.

In the preferred embodiment above, if image data ID informationassociated with the mail address of the sender of the received mail hasbeen registered to the address book 301, an image of the image data filewhich is identified by the image data ID information is displayed as abackground image when the message of the received mail is displayed. Inaddition to this, or instead of this, if image data ID informationassociated with the mail address of the sender of the received mail 802,which is currently selected as shown in FIG. 8, has been registered tothe address book, an image of the image data file identified by theimage data ID information may be displayed as a background image of thereceived mail list 801 when the received mail list 801 is displayed. Anexample of this is a received mail list 1201 shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 12illustrates a case where image data identified by image data IDinformation which has been registered in the sender information of asender called “Yamada” is displayed as a background image.

The present invention may be a computer program that achieves the methodby a computer, or may be a digital signal representing the computerprogram.

The present invention may also be achieved by a computer-readablerecording medium, such as a semiconductor memory or the like, on whichthe above-mentioned computer program or digital signal is recorded.

The present invention may also be the computer program or digital signalto be transmitted via networks, as represented by telecommunications,wire/wireless communications, and the Internet.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The mobile communication device according to the present invention isapplicable in telecommunications technology.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile communication device comprising: astorage unit configured to store therein image data; an address bookstorage unit configured to store therein communication partyinformation, which indicates a party for mail communication, thecommunication party information being associated with the image data;and an output control unit configured to display, when a sent mail thatis transmitted by the mobile communication device is selected byselection of transmission destination information that corresponds tothe sent mail that is displayed, image data together with thetransmission destination information, wherein the transmissiondestination information comprises communication party informationpertaining to the sent mail, the image data being associated with thetransmission destination information such that the image data isdisplayed together with the transmission destination information uponselection of the transmission destination information, and wherein theimage data was previously stored in the storage unit and not attached tothe sent mail when it was sent.
 2. The mobile communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the output control unit comprises: an imagesynthesizing subunit configured to form a synthesized image bysynthesizing the transmission destination information and the image dataassociated therewith; and a synthesized image display subunit configuredto display the synthesized image.
 3. The mobile communication device ofclaim 2, wherein: the image synthesizing subunit is further configuredto form the synthesized image by synthesizing the associated image dataand a message contained in the sent mail; and the synthesized imagedisplay subunit is further configured to display the synthesized image.4. The mobile communication device of claim 3, wherein the imagesynthesizing subunit forms an image by performing, on the associatedimage data, brightness enhancement in which brightness of each pixel ofthe associated image data is brought close to maximum brightness, andforms the synthesized image by using the formed image as a backgroundimage, on top of which the message in black text is laid.
 5. The mobilecommunication device of claim 4, wherein in the brightness enhancement,a brightness scale of each pixel of the associated image data is changedto a value calculated from (m+n)/2, where m is a maximum brightnessscale and n is the brightness scale of the pixel.
 6. The mobilecommunication device of claim 3, wherein the image synthesizing subunitforms an image by performing, on the associated image data, brightnessreduction in which brightness of each pixel of the associated image datais brought close to minimum brightness, and forms the synthesized imageby using the formed image as a background image, on top of which themessage in white text is laid.
 7. The mobile communication device ofclaim 2, wherein the communication party information includes a mailaddress of the communication party, and the output control unit displaysthe image data associated with the communication party informationincluding the mail address together with the message of the specifiedmail.
 8. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the storageunit includes a music data storage subunit operable to store thereinmusic data, the communication party information stored in the addressbook storage unit is associated with the music data, and the outputcontrol unit includes a music output subunit configured to output, whenthe message of the sent mail is displayed, the associated music data. 9.The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the output controlunit comprises: an image synthesizing subunit configured to form asynthesized image for a mail list display by synthesizing a mail listand the associated image data when the sent mail is selected in the maillist; and a synthesized image display subunit configured to display thesynthesized image.
 10. A control method of a mobile communication deviceincluding a storage unit operable to store therein image data and anaddress book containing communication party information, which indicatesa party for mail communication, the communication party informationbeing associated with the image data, the control method comprising:when a sent mail that was previously transmitted by the mobilecommunication device is selected by selection of transmissiondestination information that corresponds to the sent mail, reading imagedata associated with the transmission destination information from thestorage unit, the transmission destination information corresponding tocommunication party information contained in the address book; anddisplaying the read image data together with the transmissiondestination information, wherein the image data was not transmitted withthe sent mail when the sent mail was previously transmitted.
 11. Thecontrol method of claim 10, further comprising: forming a synthesizedimage by synthesizing the transmission destination information and theimage data associated therewith; and displaying the synthesized image.12. The control method of claim 11, wherein the synthesized imagefurther includes a message contained in the sent mail, the message beingsynthesized with the transmission destination information and the imagedata.
 13. The control method of claim 12, further comprising:performing, on the associated image data, brightness enhancement inwhich brightness of each pixel of the associated image data is broughtclose to maximum brightness; and forming the synthesized image by usingthe formed image as a background image, on top of which the message inblack text is laid.
 14. The control method of claim 13, wherein in thebrightness enhancement, a brightness scale of each pixel of theassociated image data is changed to a value calculated from (m+n)/2,where m is a maximum brightness scale and n is the brightness scale ofthe pixel.
 15. The control method of claim 12, further comprising:performing, on the associated image data, brightness reduction in whichbrightness of each pixel of the associated image data is brought closeto minimum brightness; and forming the synthesized image by using theformed image as a background image, on top of which the message in whitetext is laid.
 16. The control method of claim 10, further comprising:storing music data associated with the communication party information;and outputting, when the transmission destination information of thesent mail is selected, the associated music data.
 17. The control methodof claim 10, further comprising: forming a synthesized image for a maillist display by synthesizing a mail list and the associated image datawhen the sent mail is selected in the mail list; and displaying thesynthesized image.
 18. The control method of claim 10, wherein thecommunication party information includes a mail address of thecommunication party, the method further comprising displaying the imagedata associated with the communication party information including themail address together with the message of the sent mail.